Danny Ainge: Finding a Balance in Life

In the 1981 NCAA Basketball Tournament in the sweet 16 BYU was trailing Notre Dame by a score of 47-48. What happened next is what has become one of the greatest finishes in college basketball history(see link below to view). With seven seconds on the clock the ball was passed into Danny Ainge. Ainge, who was named the national collegiate player of the year and won the John R. Wooden Award, drives down the court past all five Notre Dame players and lays the ball in for the game winning shot that advanced his team to the Elite 8. Still to this day that is the furthest the Cougars have ever made it in the NCAA Tournament. This amazing play was only the start to a great career for Ainge. He went on to be drafted by the Boston Celtics where won two NBA Championships and finished his career with 11,964 career points.
   Moving on in his career he was an NBA coach for the Phoenix Suns for three years and more recently became the general manager of the Boston Celtics in 2003 and eventually compiled a team that won the 2008 NBA Championship.

   As if managing an NBA Championship team wasn't enough for Ainge he was called to be the Bishop of the Massachusetts Weston 1st Ward right after the NBA Finals. Ainge, who had been in the bishopric already for five years said he had thought there would be some changes but this wasn't quite what he had thought. “But, honestly, there was no way they were going to call me, with my schedule, to be a bishop,” he says. “I had my doubts when they called me to be bishop, but I think that it will just compel me to find balance even more.” said Ainge. Ainge's daughter commented on her parents and her Dad's new calling by saying “despite the time and effort they are about to start putting into this ward, they are excited and eager to serve. It has been a great reminder of what great people my parents are and how blessed I am to have such great examples.” Michael Dowling a sportscaster in Ainge's ward and one of Ainge's home teaching families said “A lot of people are going to find out exactly how good of a guy he is and how much he cares about people. He’s our home teacher, and he really looks out for my boys . . . as a home teacher and a bishop would.” Ainge says, “The service element helps me to balance my life, and to buoy me up”
   It's great to see how a faithful member of the church is able to balance both his love and career of basketball with the dedication to his faith and serving his ward members as a Bishop. There is no doubt that Danny Ainge is someone we could all look up to and learn from his example of finding balance in our lives.
           
Danny Ainge Coast to Coast Game Winning Drive VS. Notre Dame

Quotes taken from The Mormon Times and BYU Magazine

Krešimir Ćosić: Basketball Star and Churchman

Before there was Danny Ainge and before we even knew what a Jimmer was there was Krešimir Ćosić. Krešimir Ćosić was born in Yugoslavia in 1948. He started his basketball career playing in 1965 for the KK Zadar. He lead his hometown team to the Yugoslavian national championship and later represented his nation at the Mexico City Olympics where they won a silver medal. In 1970 he ventured over to the U.S. to play college basketball for Brigham Young University. Ćosić, an Atheist, didn't choose the school based off of religion but rather just the desire to play American basketball. In fact he says he knew nothing about the church. " I had never heard about the Church before I came here. In Yugoslavia most of the young people are completely atheistic, and that’s the way I lived. When I came to Provo I didn’t change. I was an atheist for two years while I was in Provo. Nobody was farther from becoming a Mormon than I was. I just lived my way, and people lived their way. I obeyed all the rules of BYU, tried to be as good as I could, and tried to play ball and do my studying and other things.." says Ćosić.
    While changing religions was no where to be found on his radar he quickly became a fan favorite. As a 6'11" center he sure didn't play like one. He was famous for his uncenterlike skills like leading the fast break, putting up long outside shots, two handed layups, and shooting underhand shots along the baseline against taller defenders. This play quickly earned him nicknames like “the wild giraffe”, “the runaway camel”, and “the tallest guard in the league.” Averaging 19.1 points per game he helped lead BYU to two WAC titles and became the first foreign player to earn All-America honors.
    After two years of playing ball and attending school Ćosić wanted to know more. "When I was a junior, I decided to figure out a few things. I had things I wanted to know." In 1971 after meeting with the missionaries he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When talking about his conversion Ćosić says "I didn’t decide to join the Church because of any one thing. There were some things that I wanted to know. I had a few questions that no one could answer. It just happened. We as Mormons believe in personal things everyone can know by himself. It all depends on how bad you want to know something. That’s the whole point. If we have a desire in the Church to know something, we will know it; there’s no question about that. If something is really bothering you, you probably go to somebody for advice. If it’s football you want to know about—what kind of a play you are going to play—you can ask me, and I don’t have any idea. I just can’t help. It’s the same if you’re going to the wrong church. They can’t give you an answer. So you ask, and find out, and you join the true church. So I just decided to join the Church."
    The Church not only effected Ćosić but on many others from his native land. He first served as the LDS presiding priesthood holder in post-communist Croatia. He was responsible with the translation of The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants into Croatian. Later he was able to introduce the gospel to Yugoslavia. Many believe that because of Ćosić's influence Yugoslavia recognized the Church in 1975. In the same year, Church leaders formed Yugoslavia's first Latter-day Saint congregation in Zadar. Between 1993 and 1998, the Church provided thousands of tons of food, clothing, bedding and medical supplies to Croatia. Since 1995 the Church has participated in a project to assist Croatian farmers. Currently there are just over 500 members in six congregations in Croatia.
    In 1995 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and passed away at the age of 46 years old. We may never know the full impact Krešimir Ćosić had on spreading the gospel to others but this does help us know that our Heavenly Father is always looking for ways to move His work forward, including using a basketball player to open up others to Him.